• by Ray Schultz , January 26, 2023

Chief information officers (CIOs) feel more important than they did before, and are increasingly coming up with business ideas, according to State of the CIO Survey 2023, a study by Foundry.  

Of those polled,, 77% say their role has been elevated due to the state of the economy. And, 85% now say they are changemakers, leading business and technology initiatives.  

For instance, 55% proactively identify business opportunities and make recommendations regarding technology and provider selections. And 23% advise on business need, technology choices, and providers.  

In addition, 30% say their CEOS have asked them to strengthen IT and business collaboration.

Moreover, 24% have been tasked with improving the customer experience, and 23% with leading digital business and transformation. 

To a large extent, 84% of IT leaders spent time on basic functional tasks including security management (47%), improving IT operations and systems performance (40%), and cost and control expenses management (28%). 

Meanwhile, 61% are spending time on business strategist capabilities, roughly the same as last year. 

Exceptions were the high-tech sector (78%) and financial services (67%), where CIOs were responsible for “driving business innovation, developing and refining business strategy, and identifying opportunities for competitive differentiation as central to their core charter,” the study states. 

Foundry, an IDG company, surveyed 837 IT leaders and 201 line of business respondents.